by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

by Nate Ryan, USA TODAY Sports

BROOKLYN, Mich. â?? Life moves slower in the Irish Hills, the bucolic region that's home to Michigan International Speedway and the vestiges of summer vacations coated in formaldehyde since the 1960s.

But once past the crumbling dinosaur theme parks ("Welcome to the Prehistoric Forest!"), rusting go-kart tracks and quaint ice cream stands lining the two-lane U.S. 12 that is the main feeder road into the track, the pace changes considerably along with the stakes.

Since being repaved last year, Michigan has become the most breathtaking, white-knuckle experience in NASCAR and produced laps easily topping the 200-mph mark â?? a magical but portentous number that often is linked with liftoff speeds in stock car racing.

With the Wednesday night death in a dirt-car crash of versatile veteran journeyman Jason Leffler still weighing heavily in the Sprint Cup Series, Michigan looms as a track whose breakneck reputation carries tangible danger.

"A lap here, especially in qualifying, drivers aren't supposed to be terrified," Dale Earnhardt Jr. said. "But 'terrifying' is a word that comes kind of close to what qualifying is like here, especially with this new surface and this tire.

"I remember (Greg) Biffle got the pole (in 2011). He was quite shaken by the process of running that lap. It's amazing how much when you are in the race, everything sort of slows down, and the laps aren't a challenge anymore just trying to run on the edge of the grip."

But though drivers get more comfortable, the conditions are just as treacherous on the flat 2-mile oval, which has a history of vicious wrecks even though it isn't known for the massive pileups of Daytona International Speedway and Talladega Superspeedway.

Those tracks required restrictor plates to keep speeds under 200 mph, but speeds at Michigan are the fastest on the circuit. Marcos Ambrose set the qualifying record at 203.241 mph last year, and Carl Edwards' No. 99 Ford posted a 202.452-mph lap Friday to win the pole position for Sunday's Quicken Loans 400.

"This is the fastest track we have, and it might be in speed, but it definitely is in feel," defending series champion Brad Keselowski, who is seeking his first win at the track nearest his Rochester Hills, Mich., hometown. "At any given second, you feel like you're going to bust your butt. Sometimes even down the straightaway when you go to make a pass and try to pull down and make an aggressive move, you can feel the car slide around a lot and go, 'Whoa'. So that makes this type of racetrack feel faster than it even is, and it's still the fastest track we have."

Speeds will be above 215 mph at the end of the straightaways of a track where Clifford Allison died in 1992. Two years later, Ernie Irvan nearly died and was sidelined for more than a year after sustaining brain and lung injuries in a Turn 2 crash. Five years to the day of that crash, Irvan was airlifted out of Michigan after another wreck and retired a month later.

In June 2003, Brett Bodine missed a race after suffering a broken collarbone in a practice crash. Last year, Mark Martin emerged unscathed after one of the most spectacular accidents of the season â?? a frightening side impact with the pit wall.

But that record of violent impacts still doesn't dissuade drivers from heaping praise on a superspeedway they always have loved for its wide, sweeping corners and smooth surface that can facilitate side-by-side racing with multiple grooves.

"It's very easily laid out and understandable for a driver," Earnhardt said. "There are no bumps or no bad transitions; there is nothing really that you are out there fighting or worried about or dreading. It's just a simple racetrack, and there is a lot of room that invites hard racing, passing. It's a place that I enjoy."

Earnhardt's most recent two victories occurred at Michigan in 2008 and last year. Though Chevy and Toyota have won seven of the past eight at Michigan, this also is the winningest track for Roush Fenway Racing with 12 victories.

The team has struggled for speed, though, since Biffle won here in August. There have been glimmers of a turnaround such as Edwards' pole position and Biffle's runner-up finish at Pocono Raceway.

"That was huge," Edwards said after qualifying first Friday for the first time since the 2012 Daytona 500. "Greg's run last week says more about our organization and ability than even this pole position. That is something that got me real excited. He was able to just drive by guys, especially on the restarts. At a place like Pocono you have to have your stuff together, and your car has to be really good to do that."

Just as at Pocono, there will be a premium on horsepower Sunday, and Toyota Racing Development drivers are expected to have a better shot. The manufacturer has brought a more powerful engine after failing to record a top-five or lead a lap at Pocono for the first time in 2013.

Only two Toyotas qualified in the top 10 at Michigan, but drivers such as Martin Truex Jr. seemed optimistic their Camrys would be stronger Sunday on a track that's easier to navigate after last year's repaving made it a thrill ride that necessitated a tire change before the June race after speeds approached 205 mph in practice.

"With the track getting some wear on it, it definitely hasn't been as edgy," Truex said. "You can kind of drive the car a little bit harder and still feel like you're in control. You weren't really last year; there were times you just felt like you were along for the ride."

That's a ride many are willing to take, provided it leads to victory lane and not into the wall.

"This is one of my personal biggest races of the year," Keselowski said. "For any driver, when they go to their home racetrack, it's kind of the equivalent of going to Daytona or the Brickyard or any of those other really large races. Coming back home to Michigan, a win here would mean the world to me."